Inside VR & AR (May 14th, 2018)

Another company, INT, has announced a display with a higher pixel density designed for VR. The Taiwan-based INT developed a 2228 ppi AMOLED screen built on a glass substrate that will help alleviate the screen door effect (the visible lines between pixels). Just last week it was reported that Japan Display Inc. had developed a 1001 ppi LCD screen built for VR. Called retina displays, VR screens require higher pixel density because they are used in closer proximity to a user's eyes than a tablet or PC display. New retina display technology will likely be displayed at the May 22 SID's Display Week in Los Angeles. — ROADTOVR

The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) will show its VR content using Pixvana's SPIN Studio platform. Like most major film festivals, SIFF is featuring a VR Zone for virtual reality content. SIFF will use Pixvana’s new VR Casting technology to distribute content from SPIN Studio to multiple VR headsets. SPIN studio has a new auto play feature that will automatically start the selected VR program as soon as a festival attendee puts on the headset, rather than having to use the headset remote. — VRFOCUS

Unity showcased its new Carte Blanche VR creation suite at its Unite Tokyo conference last week. The game engine developer announced that Carte Blanche will be available in October. Carte Blanche is different than Unity's existing Editor VR in that it is more accessible to developers with any skill set, while Editor VR gives experienced developers access to specialized third-party tools. The platform has a simplified UI and a wide range of pre-made assets. — VENTUREBEAT

A team of Hofstra University students has created a VR experience that simulates a Category 3 hurricane. The Category 3 Hurricane Landfall Virtual Reality Simulationis designed to trigger an emotional response from the viewer and help them make decisions and prepare for an actual event. The team had help from Jackson Snellings and Alex Smiros of EdTech and the experience was built in Unity 3D. The group intends to expand their experiences to other severe weather situations. — VRSCOUT

Baobab Studio's latest VR movie premiered at Cannes this weekend. The film is called Crow: The Legend and was produced by John Legend, who also stars in the animated VR production. Baobab recently announced that Oprah Winfrey would join the cast alongside Ready Player One’s Tye Sheridan as Turtle, Freakish’s Liza Koshy as Owl, Sarah Eagle Heart as Luna, Constance Wu as Skunk, and Star Wars: Rogue One’s Diego Luna as Moth. The first chapter debuted at the film festival and took over all five screens at Next, the festival's VR and innovation hub; the second chapter will be released later this year. — VARIETY

The independent VR app store WEARVR has announced the winners of its contest to remake old VR demos to support new hardware. The app store started the $10,000 Remastered Competition in January, challenging developers to take content originally made for the Oculus DK1 and/or DK2 and to enhance it and make it playable on Oculus Rift or subsequent systems. The result was a three-way tie in which WEARVR awarded $3,000 to Titans of Space by DrashVR, Welcome to Oculus by Trey Davis, and Breath Tech Demo by Brett Jackson of Head Start Design, and distributed the other $1,000 to six runners up. — ROADTOVR

A team of Hofstra University students has created a VR experience that simulates a Category 3 hurricane. The Category 3 Hurricane Landfall Virtual Reality Simulationis designed to trigger an emotional response from the viewer and help them make decisions and prepare for an actual event. The team had help from Jackson Snellings and Alex Smiros of EdTech and the experience was built in Unity 3D. The group intends to expand their experiences to other severe weather situations. — VRSCOUT

Inside VR & AR

The present and future of virtual/augmented reality news and technology